“Can I get the same one as last time?”
That sounds like a fairly easy sale. The customer knows your shop, has tried the product, and wants another one.
Then comes the awkward bit.
They can’t remember the product name. The packaging has changed. Their order confirmation is somewhere in an inbox full of receipts. They open your website and find themselves looking through the whole range again.
By the time they message the shop, they’ve already done more work than they expected.
If I were reviewing an online store, I’d put this journey fairly high on the list. We spend plenty of time explaining products to people who have never bought them. Someone coming back for a second order deserves a little attention too.
And sometimes the useful changes are quite small: a clearer order history, a product photo in the right place, or a question that saves someone ten minutes of searching.
Start with what they actually bought
A product name on its own doesn’t always help someone recognise a previous purchase.
Think about coffee. “House Blend” might be sold as whole beans, filter grind, or espresso grind, in several bag sizes. Finding the blend is only part of finding the same order.
A useful order history would show enough detail to recognise the item without opening three more screens:
- A clear product image.
- The size, colour, flavour, or other selected option.
- The quantity purchased.
- The date of the order.
- Whether that exact version is still available.
Those details matter even when they look a bit repetitive to the person building the page.
I’d also be careful with internal product codes. A code might be the easiest way for the warehouse to identify something, but it probably isn’t what the customer remembers.
They remember the blue bottle. The smaller bag. The version that fits their machine.
Let the page show those details in plain language. Keep the code too, if it’s useful, but don’t make recognising a purchase depend on knowing it.
The last order might not be the right order
There’s a small trap in the phrase “buy again”: it assumes the previous purchase worked out exactly as planned.
Imagine someone ordered a medium shirt, exchanged it for a large, and now wants another colour. If the reorder button copies the original purchase, it puts the wrong size back in the basket.
Or perhaps the last purchase was a birthday present. The customer doesn’t necessarily want the same delivery address, gift message, or wrapping on their next order.
This is where I’d slow the process down just enough to make it clear.
“Would you like the same size and colour?” is a reasonable question. Asking someone to explain their entire purchase history is a bit much.
A short order summary gives them something concrete to check. They can confirm what looks right and change what doesn’t.
Where returns or exchanges affect the item shown, the page should make that understandable. Seeing an original order and its replacement without any explanation leaves the customer to work out which one they should choose.
The aim is to save effort while leaving room for a different decision.
Let people check what has changed
Buying the same product doesn’t mean buying it under the same conditions.
The price may have changed. A discount from the first order may have expired. Delivery could take longer this time, or the customer might need it sent somewhere else.
None of those changes needs a dramatic announcement. They do need to be visible before payment.
I’d want a repeat-order summary to answer a few ordinary questions:
- Is this the exact version I want?
- How many am I buying?
- What does it cost today?
- Where will it be delivered?
- When should I expect it?
A familiar product can make people move quickly through checkout. That makes a clear summary especially useful.
It also helps to keep the wording honest. If a previous item has been replaced by a newer model, call it a replacement. Don’t quietly substitute it and leave the customer to notice the different photo.
Even a small change can matter. A different connector, ingredient, or pack size might be the reason someone decides against ordering again.
Give them enough information to make that choice before the parcel arrives.
Try the whole thing on a phone
A repeat-purchase feature can look perfectly reasonable in a design review and still feel clumsy on a small screen.
The order history might be tucked inside an account menu. The selected size might disappear behind a collapsed section. A button labelled “View order” could lead to a receipt with no obvious way to buy anything.
I’d test the journey from the point where a returning customer is likely to start.
That could be an old confirmation email, a saved browser tab, or a message to the shop. It won’t always be the homepage.
Then I’d follow it through without using any shortcuts I know as the person reviewing the site.
Can I recognise the product? Change the quantity? See the current total? Correct the address without losing the basket?
Account access deserves a look here too. If someone checked out as a guest before, “just log in” may not be helpful. They might never have created an account.
The route to a previous order still needs to protect customer information. It should also explain what to do next in words that make sense to someone holding a phone and trying to finish a quick purchase.
A chat should pick up the conversation
Sometimes the customer will skip the website and ask directly.
“Can you send me the same coffee again?”
There are a few possible ways that conversation can go. Someone could send the whole coffee catalogue. They could ask the customer to find an old receipt. Or, once the customer has been identified appropriately, they could help confirm the relevant previous item.
The last option sounds closest to the help being requested.
A useful reply might be:
“Was that the 500g bag, ground for filter?”
That gives the customer something specific to confirm. It doesn’t require them to remember the shop’s naming system.
I’d include a repeat-order conversation in any trial of Cubbo Engage, alongside the usual questions from people buying for the first time. There’s a lot to learn from seeing where the conversation gets stuck.
For example, does it keep asking questions the customer has already answered? Does it confuse a previous order with the current basket? Can someone take over when the item can’t be identified?
Remembering relevant details should make the exchange easier. There’s no need to recite a customer’s entire order history back to them.
Don’t assume everyone needs a reminder
It’s tempting to take a previous purchase date and turn it into a schedule.
Someone bought a bag of coffee four weeks ago, so perhaps they need another one now.
Maybe they do. Maybe they bought two bags elsewhere, went away for a fortnight, or only make coffee at home on weekends.
A purchase date gives you a starting point. It doesn’t tell you exactly how someone uses a product.
I’d be cautious about writing reminders as though the shop knows what’s left in the cupboard. “You must be running low” can sound oddly confident when it’s just a guess.
A simple option to buy the item again leaves more room for the customer’s actual situation.
Where reminders are offered, people should be able to choose whether they want them and stop them easily. Someone asking for another bag today hasn’t necessarily asked for a message every month.
There’s also a difference between a consumable and something people buy occasionally. Coffee, a phone stand, and a wedding gift shouldn’t all end up in the same follow-up routine just because they were purchased on the same date.
Test the less tidy orders too
The easiest demonstration uses a customer who bought one item, loved it, and wants exactly the same thing at the same address.
That’s a useful first test. I wouldn’t stop there.
Try an order with an exchanged size. A gift sent to someone else. A product that has been discontinued. A previous customer who now wants half the quantity.
For each one, watch how much the customer has to explain and where they have to start over.
You don’t need a complicated scorecard. Write down the questions they were asked, the screens they opened, and any point where they couldn’t tell what would happen next.
If an unavailable item sends them back to the homepage, there’s something to improve. If changing an address empties the basket, fix that before polishing the reminder message.
I’d finish with one very ordinary test: hand someone a previous order and ask them to buy it again from their phone.
Stay quiet while they try.
The moment they turn to you and ask, “Where do I find the one I had before?” is probably where the next bit of work should begin.